The global extruded polystyrene (XPS) market size is projected to grow from USD 5.5 billion in 2019 to USD 6.7 billion by 2024, at a CAGR of 4.0%, between 2019 and 2024. The major driving factors in the XPS industry are increasing population, rising infrastructure requirements in developing economies, technological improvements in the XPS insulation products, and rapid urbanization.

Ravago Group (Luxembourg) has become the leading company in the manufacturing of XPS insulation products. It has a diversified product portfolio with several investments in acquisitions. The company continuously focuses on its organic as well as inorganic growth to expand its market share in Europe. As of now, the company has been aggressively expanding in the European market, which is considered the largest market for XPS due to the huge demand. For instance, in January 2019, the Ravago Group purchased XPS business from DuPont Europe. This acquisition has bolstered the XPS capacity of Ravago in Europe, and it has made the company one of the biggest XPS manufacturers in the world. Ravago also acquired Knauf Insulations XPS business in the UK and France to improve its geographic footprint in the European market. These aggressive inorganic strategies have enabled Ravago Group to rapidly increase its XPS manufacturing capacity in a short time span.

BASF SE (Germany) is the world’s leading chemical manufacturing company and has a diversified product portfolio with several investments in product innovation. It has companies in more than 90 countries and operates six verbound sites and 355 additional production sites, globally, to meet the demand of customers. Its efficient network of production plants and sales & distribution network helped the company to maintain its position in the XPS market. Furthermore, the company has also developed a new technology to supplement the XPS manufacturing process, which involves joining/welding insulation foams. This technology can be used to combine a variety of insulation materials and create a customized product to serve an extensive range of customers with uncommon requirements. Such strategies will boost the growth of the company and also its XPS business, globally.

The third most active company in the XPS market is Synthos SA (Poland). It is one of the major XPS manufacturers in Europe, with all of its XPS manufacturing facilities located in the region. The company is planning to become one of the biggest XPS manufacturers in Central Europe due to its ambitious expansion plans in Oœwiêcim, Poland. Synthos is increasing its XPS capacity at its production plant in Oœwiêcim, Poland, due to the continuously increasing demand in the region. The production capacity expansion is expected to help the company gain an advantage over its competitors. Additionally, the company is expecting efficient raw-material integration, low energy costs, and optimization of its distribution system. The region also has good potential for recycling management as a lot of waste is generated from increased demolition and construction activities, which is expected to boost the opportunities for XPS recycling.